Vintage Tea Room Postcards

From Mystic Tea Room

Revision as of 19:23, 4 September 2020

The beginning of the tea room movement happened to coincide with the the postcard craze, which was in full flower from 1905 until World War One. Even after postcards waned a bit in popularity during the 1920s, many tea rooms kept on printing the, as they had learned that illustrated mailing cards were an inexpensive way to boost their business.

Postcard stamps only cost one cent back then, so in some some tea rooms, when you sat down to order, a pre-stamped postcard showing the room in which you were seated accompanied the menu, and you were encouraged to write a message and mail it to a friend. Thus, today's postcard collectors find many tea room cards with messages on the back that read something like this:

Hello, Edith —
We found this wonderful
little place on the way
to the Falls — Maybe
you can come along next
time and we'll stop here
to eat. The view is lovely
and the food is great.
— Mabel

On this site you will find many, many interior and exterior views of quaint, old-fashioned tea rooms, as well as the backs of cards, some with messages and some simply indicating the name of the printer or additional information about the tea room.

Read about Tea Room History here, and look for the places themselves alphabetically, by State or Nation.

Please note that as we build this site, not every state will have a tea room. Watch us grow!

Tea Rooms of the United States

• Alabama Tea Rooms
• Alaska Tea Rooms
• Arizona Tea Rooms
• Arkansas Tea Rooms
• California Tea Rooms
• Colorado Tea Rooms
• Connecticut Tea Rooms
• Delaware Tea Rooms
• Florida Tea Rooms
• Georgia Tea Rooms
• Hawaii Tea Rooms
• Idaho Tea Rooms
• Illinois Tea Rooms
• Indiana Tea Rooms
• Iowa Tea Rooms
• Kansas Tea Rooms
• Kentucky Tea Rooms
• Louisiana Tea Rooms
• Maine Tea Rooms
• Maryland Tea Rooms
• Massachusetts Tea Rooms
• Michigan Tea Rooms
• Minnesota Tea Rooms
• Mississippi Tea Rooms
• Missouri Tea Rooms
• Montana Tea Rooms
• Nebraska Tea Rooms
• Nevada Tea Rooms
• New Hampshire Tea Rooms
• New Jersey Tea Rooms
• New Mexico Tea Rooms
• New York Tea Rooms
• North Carolina Tea Rooms
• North Dakota Tea Rooms
• Ohio Tea Rooms
• Oklahoma Tea Rooms
• Oregon Tea Rooms
• Pennsylvania Tea Rooms
• Rhode Island Tea Rooms
• South Carolina Tea Rooms
• South Dakota Tea Rooms
• Tennessee Tea Rooms
• Texas Tea Rooms
• Utah Tea Rooms
• Vermont Tea Rooms
• Virginia Tea Rooms
• Washington Tea Rooms
• West Virginia Tea Rooms
• Wisconsin Tea Rooms
• Wyoming Tea Rooms

Tea Rooms of the British Commonwealth

• Canada Tea Rooms
• England Tea Rooms
• Ireland Tea Rooms
• Scotland Tea Rooms

Tea Rooms of Europe

• Switzerland Tea Rooms

catherine yronwode
curator, historian, and docent
The Mystic Tea Room

See Also

• Tea Room History